Beverage factories

The design of a beverage factory also has to take account of experience and developments in other technical fields such as materials science, mechanical engineering and business management. Process design covers the use, evaluation, analysis and synthesis of the available process alternatives. Depending on the customer's needs, Makfen's beverage factory installation and process design work covers the expansion or modification of existing plants, the introduction of a new product, or the turnkey construction of a complete plant.

The experienced Makfen team is very careful about hygiene standards when it designs factories and equipment, and when a new beverage factory is planned it works from many parameters, such as the factory site, product and process behaviour, product hygiene, plant safety and flexibility for change.

In new beverage plants, production lines are either batch or continuous. Continuous processes are preferred especially in high-capacity factories, because costs are more consistent and operations can be controlled more effectively. Batch processes are used in small-capacity production, because the processes are complex and the products handled are variable and made in small quantities. In a batch plant, effective design and the right choice of equipment make it possible to reach maximum capacity. In batch processes, intermediate storage tanks are used between unit operations to control and sustain production. Perfecting the production cycle concerns every operation in the factory. Makfen has a thorough command of process principles and food standards, and these are some of the production principles it never compromises on when it designs beverage processes and equipment:

• Production speed: in principle production should be as quick as possible, to reduce the risk of microbiological spoilage and infection and to prevent loss of quality (for example, prolonged heating reduces vitamin content).
• Heat treatment: in most cases heat should be applied at the lowest level that does the job, to avoid loss of quality. Where cooling is needed, on the other hand, the temperature should be kept as high as the product allows in order to save energy (for example in the cold chain).
• Standardisation: standardisation of production and control is essential. It is the single most effective factor for quality, both across total output and in each individual product.
• Sanitation: keeping to hygienic conditions from raw material to finished product, on production lines, in machinery, in buildings and among personnel, is vital for the reliability of the whole operation.

When Makfen installs a beverage factory to your requirements, it does more than design the plant: it engineers projects that are environmentally sound and compatible with their surroundings. Makfen values nature and the health of living things, and the innovative steps it has taken have produced effective solutions that raise the performance of the systems it builds while helping to reduce or prevent their environmental impact. The Makfen team treats environmental factors as design parameters of a beverage factory and carries out the whole turnkey installation: engineering, fabrication, assembly, instrumentation, piping, insulation, electrical installation, performance testing and commissioning.

• Design and fabrication to customer requirements and international standards
• Materials and workmanship selected for the operating conditions
• Fully certified materials throughout
• High build quality and long service life
• Jacket or heating / cooling coils
• Thermal insulation
• Mechanical seal or gland packing matched to the system
• Complete operation and maintenance documentation
• Agitator speed control
• PLC control panel
• CIP (clean-in-place) provisions
• Precision weighing system
• Impeller and baffles matched to the product
• Construction rated for high pressure and vacuum
• Ex-proof / IP-rated motor
• Polishing and painting suited to the material grade